


Day 5 - Poisoned

by broken_fannibal



Series: Whumptober 2018 [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur is an idiot, Gen, Poison, Poisoning, Poor Merlin, Season/Series 01, Snakes, idk what are tags help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 06:44:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16192223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broken_fannibal/pseuds/broken_fannibal
Summary: Merlin gets poisoned and Gaius and Gwen have to try to get the antidote before Merlin dies.





	Day 5 - Poisoned

When Merlin came back into their chambers from a long day out with Arthur, Gaius had noticed that Merlin was unusually pale. A light sweat had broken out on his forehead.

He tossed his bag next to the bench and collapsed onto it. He folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them.

“What tedious tasks did Arthur have you do today?” Gaius sat down opposite of Merlin.

A muffled grumble.

He waited.

Merlin turned his head to the side. “Walking. All day. And I fell into a nest of snakes.”

Gaius chuckled. “Whose fault was it?”

He groaned. “Don’t know. One second I was walking the next I was on the ground with Arthur on top of me.”

Gaius sighed and reached out to ruffle Merlin’s hair. “I’ll make dinner now. You must be very hungry.”

Merlin shrugged and raised his head a little.

Gaius felt Merlin’s forehead. “Do you have a fever?”

Merlin frowned and looked at him with a puzzled expression. “Why would I have a beaver?”

“A fever. You’re very warm.” Gaius explained.

“Huh...” Merlin continued staring into thin air.

“Did you get bitten?” Gaius asked now.

“I... Maybe. It’s a bit of blur.” Merlin frowned.

“What did the snakes look like?”

“Green.” he answered.

Gaius cocked his head. “I will need details.”

“A brown pattern. And yellow.”

Gaius paled. He got up to check in one of his books to make sure. He really hoped it wasn´t the one he had in mind.

Turned out it was. Sometimes he hated being right.

Merlin was spacing out again.

Gaius helped him lie down on his bed and got a wet cloth to keep the fever down.

He dove into research on an antidote. He knew it was hard to come by but he didn’t remember what it was.

 

Several hours later Gwen stopped by. She offered to get him some new water after he explained what had happened.

From then on they searched through the books together.

It was when the sun had long set and they could barely keep their eyes open anymore that Gaius said: “I found it.”

Gwen got up and leaned over Gaius’ shoulder.

“It is a purple flower that grows in the mountains.”

“In the mountains?” Gwen echoed.

“Yes. We should be able to find some on the slopes of the White Mountains. They’re the closest.”

Gwen nodded. “You should stay with Merlin. I will go to get them.” she paused. “How much do we need?”

Gaius looked at her, then he nodded. “One flower should be enough.”

She nodded. “I will leave at dawn.”

He nodded. “Thank you. I will tell Morgana.”

With a last look at Merlin, she left.

Gaius got some new water and changed the cloth on Merlin’s forehead.

 

Over the course of the next days, Merlin’s condition only got worse.

In the beginning, he had still been drifting in and out of consciousness but on the second day, he was mostly asleep.

Every spare minute Gaius sat by Merlin’s side. He told him to keep fighting the effect of the poison. He told him Gwen was coming, that she’d bring the antidote. He hoped Merlin could hear him. Or that he could at least sense help was coming.

On the third day, Merlin’s breath was getting weaker. Gaius hoped Gwen would return soon. But by the evening she still wasn’t there. Gaius was afraid to go to sleep even for a few hours. What if Merlin passed away while he was asleep?

When Gwen entered Gaius chambers, it was awfully quiet. She felt panic rise in her chest. Was it too late? Had she been too slow?

She breathed a sigh of relief when she found Merlin on a bed and Gaius sleeping at a table.

She woke him. “Gaius I’ve got it.”

He blinked several times. He looked just as tired as Gwen felt.

Gaius got up and gestured for her to follow him to his desk. There he got a bowl of water with a few ingredients already mixed in.

Gwen handed him the flower.

He plucked off the petals and after rolling them together in his hands he dropped them into the bowl. He stirred it with a spoon.

“Hand me that cup over there.”

Gwen spun around and picked up a small cup from another table. She handed it to Gaius.

Gaius poured the water into it, leaving the petals and other ingredients in the bowl.

He quickly crossed to Merlin and held the cup to his lips.

Merlin drank.

Gaius and Gwen sat there for endless seconds waiting for something to happen.

They exchanged worried glances.

Then Merlin twitched and coughed. He shook his head and sat up. His eyes were wide as he looked around.

“Gaius? Gaius where am I? Why is it so dark?” Panic stole its way into his voice.

Gaius paled. “Merlin it is midday.” He reached for Merlins head, inspected his eyes. He could see nothing wrong with them.

Merlin blinked, confused. He reached up to rub his eyes.

Gaius held a cup of tea to his lips. “Here drink something.”

Merlin did. He licked his lips, then his eyebrows shot up.

“What is it?” Gwen asked.

Merlin looked confused for a moment, hadn’t noticed she was there. “I think I’m starting to see again.”

Gaius gave a sigh of relief.

 

It took a few days for Merlins fever to go down completely. It didn’t exactly help that Arthur did not once think of sparing him even a little.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you liked it please consider leaving kudos/comments! They make my day!
> 
> this did not get nearly as angsty as I wanted it to but I ran out of time so... *shrugs*


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